Ryan Hall DNFs at LA. Will he ever run a good marathon again?

CRIPES!! wrote:

blah blah blah wrote:

Yeah...sure... it was Ryan Hall who won Boston for Meb... @@... maybe it was Meb who won Boston for Meb??? Had Ryan had it in him to win, I am sure he would have tried to win it himself. It is easy to say that you didn't try to overtake someone when you physically cannot.

CRIPES!!! Ryan Hall stopped everyone from chasing MEB DOWN. The Africans knew that HALL WAS THE BOSS, the ONLY AMERICAN to WORRY ABOUT. If HALL Wasn't WORRIED about Meb's LEAD, then they sure as HECK weren't going to be EITHER. THE 2:04 guys SAT BACK with HALL, waiting for the TIGER TO MAKE HIS MOVE.

but it was ALL A RUSE! HALL nobly HELD BACK THE KENYANS and JOGGED so that MEB COULD FINALLY FEEL SOME OF THE GLORY THAT HALL LIVES HIS LIFE IN 24/7.

Ha ha - Okay, sure.

Don't worry, nobody is going to make you take down your autographed RH posters. You can leave them up as long as you'd like.

I AM SOOO EMBARRASSED.

You really should be used to it by now...

Wow I didn't see that one coming.... Said absolutely noone

CRIPES!! wrote:

blah blah blah wrote:

Yeah...sure... it was Ryan Hall who won Boston for Meb... @@... maybe it was Meb who won Boston for Meb??? Had Ryan had it in him to win, I am sure he would have tried to win it himself. It is easy to say that you didn't try to overtake someone when you physically cannot.

CRIPES!!! Ryan Hall stopped everyone from chasing MEB DOWN. The Africans knew that HALL WAS THE BOSS, the ONLY AMERICAN to WORRY ABOUT. If HALL Wasn't WORRIED about Meb's LEAD, then they sure as HECK weren't going to be EITHER. THE 2:04 guys SAT BACK with HALL, waiting for the TIGER TO MAKE HIS MOVE.

but it was ALL A RUSE! HALL nobly HELD BACK THE KENYANS and JOGGED so that MEB COULD FINALLY FEEL SOME OF THE GLORY THAT HALL LIVES HIS LIFE IN 24/7.

In that case we should go ahead and thank Hall for not being a marathoner in 2004 when Meb won the silver medal at the Olympics too. The competitors knew that our "Tiger" was not there that year.

I think he can come back and make the Olympic team if he would be smart about it and come to the realization that he's not a world class marathoner anymore.

He's not going to be 3-4 years removed from an elite marathon race and then knock it out of the park in hot weather. He should have stuck with the American pack and mad a run at finishing in the top 5.

His problem is that he think he's much better than he really is. He's been screwing around the last few years while the less talented but more hungry runners have been training their butts off.

If he can accept that he's a national class runner, then he will be one and have a shot at the team. If he continues to think like Uncle Rico, he's finished.

No lie, Hall's best chance to make the Olympic team is probably in the 10k at this point. He's just not a good marathoner anymore. Maybe it would serve him well to get back on the track.

anacondarunner wrote:

He's just not a good marathoner anymore.

"Good" or "bad" are not the words to describe someone that goes out at world record pace on that course and at that temperature (and yes, also considering that individual's recent racing history). Ironically in light of his proclaimed religiosity, Ryan's hubris is breathtaking. Ryan may still be a good marathon, but unfortunately for him, he's also a deeply deluded one.

I am reminded of something I read in Lore of Running. Marathoners actually have their best marathons early on in running them. You can't expect to have 10s of awesome marathons. Many do, but again most Olympic champions are only in their first 5 marathons. Plenty will do great for longer, but it's tough. It's hard to marathon run and marathon train year in and year out.

That is the kind of result you get with no doping

DUDE IS FINISHED FOR GOOD

If Hall makes the Olympic team, it'll be the biggest comeback since Lazarus.

Why are you all under the impression that you get to be great forever? Most guys get about 5 years, in exceptional cases as many 10. (Geb, who may not actually be from this planet is the only exception I can think of who was among the best few in the world for more than a decade).

This is exactly what happened with Webb, too - really all the guys from that exceptional class of 2001 are done. (Ritz may be a little bit of an exception but he's had so many injuries that 2 regular runner years are only one Ritz year)

Hall might get another good race or two out of himself, but, he should really think about other ways to make money now.

snooby wrote:

Two possibilities.

1. His pride destroyed his career. No coach gave him the flexibility to travel and ride the gravy train. The result is he has been his own worst enemy and he wasn't disciplined enough to maintain the required top-tier edge.

2. His success 4-7 years ago was a fluke and he just isn't/wasn't that good. Being that there is no such thing as fluke good races, all things point to #1. With that being the case, it's hard to feel sorry for him.

Those ARE two possibilities... Neither one is right.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hall announces his retirement. The only way he can make it back to being an elite is to humble himself and start training and racing like the other sub-elite Americans - like running the USATF road championships. He flew to the front of the lead pack and way over-estimated his potential. He needs to start all over and race himself back into contention. Sad to say, I don't think he's humble enough to do that, even though he could probably do it.

The best thing that could happen to him would be to lose his sponsorships and start training with other runners.

Yeah, I told him to stop and take me off after his wife passed us. I told them both not to go to Africa and develop JET LAG but he would not listen.

lapras wrote:

He\'s done. He\'ll never be competitive in the sport again.

I think he should stop marathoning and run road races- make money doing what he loves and inspire people.

He is a good role model- good person (whether you like his religion or not).

I was over Ryan Hall when I saw him give up at USATF 1500 while in HS.

He never had the mentality to tap into his natural ability. A strange guy. One great race every 5 years is not greatness.

Just tired of these Hall PR interviews now for several years where he always claims is in the best shape of his life, and then proceeds to disappoint.

Does that mean up-and-comers like Derrick, Jenkins, Cam, et al. should ditch the track for the marathon NOW if they want to maximize their success at 26.2? And has Rupp already waited too long to ever realize his full potential as a marathoner? These are fair questions.

I think everyone is looking at this whole Ryan Hall situation in the wrong light. He used to be an incredible runner that is true. Now he is not because he continues to run poor times or DNF's. So what? He is allowed to try and continue to run and to put himself in marathons he thinks he can succeed in only to fail. He's never claimed that he is the best marathoner of all time or anything else hyperbolically selfish. He is a stand up guy who is not having the "perfect" running career, but he has taken all of his accomplishments and failures in stride and been very humble throughout his whole career. So get off his back because none of you will ever be as good of a runner as him, or as humble as him, or as happy as him, so let him be and see what he can do with his few years left in his running career.